The new hike was fixed by a government-appointed wage board on July 27, following several discussions with the factory owners and union leaders.
Many worker unions welcomed the new scale, where some others criticised the hike, saying the new package would not ensure decent living standard of the workers.
"A minimum wage of Tk 3,000 is insufficient for a worker to lead a decent life, and so, we protested the hike," Mushrefa Mishu, president of Garment Shramik Oikyo Parishad, told the FE.
Mishu also expressed fear regarding the implementation of the new wage structure in all factories. "We have previous experiences that make us worried."
"The wage hike is not the demand of the garment workers' organisations, but the promise from the government and BGMEA," said Aminul Huq Amin, president of Jatiya Garment Sramik Federation.
"Though in the tri-party meeting in August we proposed to announce the hike earlier than November, we are hopeful that the new wage hike will be implemented in all factories."
"The owners of garment factories have not yet received the final gazette notification from the Labour and Employment Ministry," he said, requesting to send the gazette to all factories soon.
"We will monitor all the factories until cent per cent implementation of the new wage structure in all units," he said.
He added that they will also prepare a list of the garments that would not readjust or restructure their package according to the new hike after the end of this month and send the list to the government and BGMEA.
"We are trying to implement the increased new wage structure as early as possible, but it may take a little time, as we are yet to receive the gazette from the Labour Ministry," said Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
But he assured the garment workers that they will receive salary according to the new wage structure from December. This is a big challenge for the sector, he said, adding that all of the owners do not know the exact increased cost.
Our 35-50 per cent cost might increase to implement the new structure, Mr Murshedy said. "It will be beneficial for the sector, if the owners get the gazette book as early as possible."
-FE, Tue 02/11/2010
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